


Try hard

by AlexNow



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-24 13:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8373943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexNow/pseuds/AlexNow
Summary: Handa Chihiro as a new student at the volleyball powerhouse, unaware that the school even  has  volleyball, much less who this famous 'Oikawa Tooru' is.
  
  
     And who the hell is the guy he's always talking about?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for taking the time to open this! It's sort of shit, but I hope you find enjoyment in reading this at least a little. I tried, but failed miserably in fanfics of this fandom. Heheh... heh.  
> -Alex

Rumors swirl through the world that is high school, in a repetitive process that starts with in one ear and continues out another mouth. Anyone who has ever attended a school full of teenagers knows this, and the amount of ridiculous stories you’ll hear are enough for one lifetime. Really, high school is one cheesy novel except without the beautiful romances that rival Romeo and Juliet’s, except for the happy endings.

But, well, at least the gossip stories are amusing as they last so it’s worth sitting down and listening to them sometimes. Especially when they involve the name of Oikawa Tooru. This is what Handa Chihiro has realized. She’s never been one to believe them, of course, and instead basks in the glory that is her peers making a fool out of themselves by talking about them. Her new school isn’t any better, but considering she was expecting to be surrounded by the same pitiful rumors as her last school, she’s glad there seems to be a slight difference now that she’s in her second year.

At first it was boring, to be honest. Chihiro had made friends easily, with how the girls in her classroom seemed to be eager to make a new friend and immediately invited her along for lunch. They asked her questions about herself, where she came from, if she has any siblings, but that didn’t last long before they quickly moved onto more interesting matters.

Who’s dating who?

Woah, so she really is failing this year _again?_

I didn’t know his father was a multi-millionaire. Are you sure about this?

It’s the same old uninteresting stories being babbled on by those who care too much about other people’s life instead of tending to their own. Chihiro listened either way, because what else is there to do? She smiled politely and nodded along with their anecdotes. ‘Oooh’ed in wonder when they pointed out through not-so-discreet fingers who they were talking about and agreed regardless of what they were saying when they went, “Right, Handa-chan?” until they stopped briefly and then one of them uttered in a low voice, “Hey, what about Oikawa-san?” and the group of girls, excluding Chihiro, fell into a fit of sheepish giggles with blushes high in their cheeks.

“Ah, you don’t know about Oikawa-san, do you?” One of them said, and they stared at Chihiro with wide eyes, as if the prospect of someone not knowing about him was too terrible to even think about. Chihiro shook her head, because no, she doesn’t. It’s her first day at this school after all. How could she?

And so the disclosure on who this enigmatic person is began. Now, two weeks later Chihiro known more about Oikawa than she would have wanted. She knows that Oikawa is the name of the third year everyone seems to find remarkable. He’s talented in any aspect, she’s told. He gets good grades and has amazing social skills which have everyone wanting to become his friend. His good looks only add another drop to the glass, and he makes every person he talks to feel special. He’s great at volleyball, which is already well known due to the fact that he got into Aoba Johsai, but to only make matters greater, not only is he part of one of the best volleyball teams in the prefecture, but he’s team captain as well.

“He’s charming too!” One of her friends says excitedly, just the thought of Oikawa making her insanely giddy.

“And _so_ cool.” Another girl adds, practically swooning.

“During games he’s always level-headed and it turns me one when I see him acting all captain-like!” Okay, so that was unnecessary information.

And yet, despite so many words regarding this so-called attractive, smart, talented, kind and charming third year, Chihiro has not seen him once. In other words, she just sees these words as blubbering coming from girls who have too high expectations for their new boyfriend. Oikawa such a ‘perfect’ boy? Please, no need to make her laugh. She’s never even _seen_ the volleyball team. Well, not with her knowledge. She has never seen the school volleyball uniforms or gone to the gym so identifying this ‘sacred’ team which has gone to finals every year, is practically impossible. It’s not a sport she’s interested in, to put it simply. To her, this ‘Oikawa’ is nothing but a legend made by girls who only wished they knew someone that great. This person’s faults are left in the dark, ignored by his admirers so they can believe there is someone that amazing. It’s a load of bullshit she isn’t going to believe.

Which is why she’s questioning on her current situation seated on a chair of a large gym, ready to watch yet another volleyball game taking place in the center of the large auditorium. With her arms crossed, she sniffs indignantly as he looks far away from the person seated next to her. She’s pretty sure she’s giving off the vibe of a petulant child but if it’s going to make her point across then she isn’t going to complain.

“Oh, Handa-chan,” Her friend says with a slight laugh, rolling her eyes and trying to cover her mouth as if it’s going to make it less obvious that she’s laughing, “Don’t pretend you aren’t enjoying this even a _little bit._ ”

“I’m not pretending,” Chihiro snaps back and she kicks the seat in front of her in retaliation. She flinches and bows in apology at the man seated there who glares at her. Chihiro glowers at the girl next to her, “This is the _fourth_ volleyball game we’d be watching today.” She receives a nonchalant wave in response.

“One game, two games. Same difference… Ooh, look! The next two teams are coming out on the left side!” Chihiro looks towards where he friend points, disgruntled and watches uninterestedly. In front of her, down below, two teams begin exiting towards the court and Chihiro sighs. This will just be yet another game where one team quickly beats down the other and it’ll be over before she knows it. If she’s out of luck (which has been proven that it has already happened judging by her current situation) then both teams suck and the game will take three hours. She lets out an overdramatic sigh (she’s really good at those).

“I’m leaving to the bathroom.” She says finally, and stands up without waiting for any response. She wouldn’t allow her friend to have enough time to grab her by the arm and force her to wait until the game ends to relieve herself of, well, what her body needs to be relieved of.

The walk to the bathroom is a short one much to her despair, and to make up for the short time wasted she fixes up her painfully straight hair (up to the last strand until it’s all as straight as her sexuality and not one strand is rebelling) and even washed her hands twice. She made sure they were completely dry afterwards both times using excessive amount of paper towels and the awfully loud dryer.

Nonetheless, she soon has to find her way back to the seat she was in and begins walking towards what she thinks is the right direction taking a step every three seconds to take more time. But she continues walking. And walking. And walking. And walking. Why? Well, as much as it sucks to admit it, Handa Chihiro is lost.

“Oh great.” She mumbles and she looks from side to side to try to find anything familiar but sees absolutely nothing. Well, nothing of use, anyway. All the hallways of this gigantic building look the same. Granted, she’s surrounded by many volleyball players so she could easily ask but she inwardly cringes at the thought. All she sees in them are buff and tall hugs laughing lowly like sumo wrestlers ready to crush their opponents to death. Chihiro doesn’t want to be near any of them, and as she walks as far away from them as possible she makes no secret of it. She may be complicating her own life by walking with her should dragging across the opposite wall but, oh well. She didn’t like this blouse anyway.

Just then as she rounds the corner, though, she sees someone wearing something other than a uniform and she allows herself to lighten up. He has bright orange hair and a lanky, short form. Very un-volleyball player life and seemingly harmless judging by how he seems to be a middle school student, at most. His expression is anxious but Chihiro doesn’t think much of it. Maybe he lost his parents.

“Excuse me!” She waves at him just before he’s going to pass her, heading for the opposite direction. The kid snaps his eyes to her, doe-like. She tries to make her voice sweet as to not to scare him away, “Do you know where the entrance to the benches is?”

He blinks, and suddenly his expression turns even more fretful. Chihiro worries she’s just made him cry as he lets out a noise between a groan and a scream. “I’m so sorry! I don’t know!” He exclaims back, and then buries his hands into his hair. His hands slips out until they’re pushing his cheeks together, eyes shifting and most likely looking for the entrance himself, “The game is about to start and I still haven’t put my uniform on!”

Chihiro blinks.

“Kageyama is going to _kill_ me.” The boy wails and he slaps himself in the face a couple times. Chihiro realizes, with a hint of despair, that this short boy isn’t a child but a teenager like herself. A teenager who, in case she hasn’t made it clear to herself yet, apparently plays volleyball. She chokes on her own spit and coughs behind her hand, tries to give him a smile and curls away from him as if she could catch his crazy need to play a sport as boring as volleyball. She nods at him as she walks past him.

“Hinata! Hurry up please! You have seven minutes to change and warm up!” Chihiro turns around to see someone in a black and orange uniform appear and the boy, Hinata, nods frantically as jogs in place in anxiety.

“I’m sorry, Suga-san! I didn’t mean to be late!” Chihiro watches as the two jog away and sighs. She continues on her way, coming to accept the fact that she’ll be stuck in this building for the rest of her life. She wonders whether she could live off the food the vending machines had to offer.

Regardless of her plans to sleep in the bathroom and message her family goodbye forever, I’m stuck in a sports stadium building so this is the last time you’ll hear of me, she _finally_ comes across the familiar staircase that leads her to her friend. It’s as if it’s been twenty year and once she climbs up she’ll see everyone had aged considerably.

Of course, none of that happens and her friend raises an eyebrow at her rudely (she doesn’t _know_ what Chihiro went through, for fuck’s sake. She was _lost_ for a large amount of time and met redhead dwarf), “What took you so long? The game is about to start.”

As if on cue to her friend’s words the whistle sounds and both teams where called, interrupting their warm up exercises. Chihiro’s eyebrows raise as she realizes that the orange haired boy, Hinata, is a starter despite his height. She sees the other teenager (‘Suga-san’, was it?) standing at the side with a proud grin on his face, even though he’s at least 5”7 and towers over Hinata and tries not to feel sorry for him (that isn’t really working out for her).

“Oh, Karasuno caught your eye?” Her friend startles her with the question and Chihiro snaps her head to her. The other girls is wearing a pleasant smile, head cocked to the side, “I know you’re not from this prefecture so you probably don’t know about them. They’re what people call the ‘fallen champions’ or ‘flightless birds’ since they used to be a pretty amazing team as one of the top volleyball teams in the prefecture but they had a pretty bad downfall when their coach retired. Lately they’ve been regaining their title by beating all these other amazing teams, though.

“They’re pretty cool but I’m more excited about… _them._ ” She points towards the other team against Karasuno, the one with the white and turquoise uniforms who are finishing up practicing spikes and they seem well into it. Their game face on and all, as opposed to the orange and black team, Karasuno, who are full of enthusiastic yells and excited skips.

“And they are?”

Her friend seem to hear her as the whistle blows a second time and everyone in both teams line up to greet each other and begin the game. Chihiro doesn’t even bother looking up from her phone as formalities are done because, what’s the point? Sure, Karasuno seems pretty interesting judging by their small player who is, by the way, being attacked by an angry black haired player (she can faintly hear, “Hinata you dumbass! You had me worried!”).

As everyone takes their place and from a calculated distance from each other on the court and crouch down in position Chihiro can make out a group of girls cheering someone’s name on the other side of the gym but it’s too loud and meddling with other noises to make out. The game is signaled to begin, the white and turquoise team beginning with the ball in the hands of a player with a white brace and—

The first serve is nothing like she expected. It’s executed perfectly and with such calculation that has her wondering how it’s even possible. She marvels at how the player’s body arches towards the touch of the volleyball as if it’s just two magnets gravitating towards itself to execute the most perfect serve possible. When it hits the side of the opposing team with a loud slam following the one where skin and bone hit the ball all that follows is silence almost so quiet she could hear someone on the other side of the entire auditorium cough. The stillness lasts a full two seconds. It feels as she’s gone completely deaf for a moment before everyone begins screaming enthusiastically like the audience of those football games she sometimes sees playing at the television of a café. From Karasuno’s side Chihiro can faintly hear their team captain yell, “Sorry! Sorry! I’ll get the next one!”

You could say this is the moment where things start to turn serious for the worse. Her eyes aren’t nearly fast enough to follow the ball as it moves from one side to the other at an incredible pace, clearly signaling that both teams are highly capable. She watches in complete shock as Hinata runs across the field with such energy and speed that she barely gets to process how the black haired boy tosses to him. Chihiro barely understand what is happening up until Hinata hits it with perfect precision and so much force, the opposing team’s block isn’t fast enough.

Her attention is caught by one of the blockers manages. She can’t help it and she stares in awe at how while his teammates curse in aggravation, his face free of any sign of stress. He has a pleasant smile on his face as he waves them off, telling them it’s fine as long as they don’t commit the same mistake again. Despite his carefree mannerism it’s clear how he’s giving it his all.

Setter. The position of the boy with the voluminous hair he nonchalantly tosses to one side of his face as he prepares for the next pass and with a tall yet built frame that just barely stands out within his team.

It’s during the third set that tension hits the court with no means of mercy and without even meaning to do it Chihiro finds herself holding her breath whenever Hinata and the Karasuno’s #9 prepared for the next quick attack. She even cheers a little when the white and turquoise team’s setter throws in his dump shot. While she still isn’t sure what team she’s rooting for (she thinks she’s past the point of admitting that she may or not be enjoying watching these teenagers run left and right), she can’t help but stare in awe at the teenage setter and marvel at his beauty when playing. She watches his large air of presence he seems to emit without much effort and radiates with uncovered confidence that he doesn’t even seem to find any reason to flaunt about. It’s as if he’s expecting others to acknowledge this said buoyancy so there’s no reason to do the work himself.

When there’s a time out and he uses it to talk to the players about their performance so far at the Interhigh judging by the way he signals to his players and they all listen attentively, nodding along and adding something in every once in a while. When the five minutes are up, they all yell enthusiastically and the setter pats some of their shoulders nonchalantly with his determined gaze and smile headed towards Karasuno. Chihiro has never seen anything like it.

In the end after many tense state of affairs and moments of strain, the white and turquoise team wins. Barely, by a single point of difference made by a miscalculation Hinata and #9 had. The view has Chihiro turn away as the upbeat orange haired boy seems to hold tears back, his teammates half-heartedly patting his back and telling him it’s fine but Chihiro wonders how much of it they actually mean. On the other side the white and turquoise setter grins as he receives high fives and laughs along with his teammates enthusiastic yells. He wraps his arm around another player’s neck and just grins as he feels multiple hands playfully jab at him. It’s such a contrasting sight compared to Karasuno that it’s almost painful to watch.

“You like someone in particular?” Her friend teases suddenly, her voice light and unlike how Chihiro is feeling. Without turning to look at her Chihiro knows her eyes are gleaming at the absolute _wreck_ that was this un predictable match. Not that Chihiro could even look away. Her eyes are on the setter and she barely reacts to the mocking words which is surprising in itself. She usually doesn’t miss a beat to react.

Nonetheless Chihiro catches the ‘I told you so’ in her friend’s tone that is left unspoken, but it’s still there. Chihiro raises a hand slowly and extends her arm towards the court. Her finger uncurls to point at the player, the one with the sweet smile and the nice laugh that’s waving at people in the benches openly, not only proud of himself but proud of his _team._

“What’s his name? What school does he go to?”

Her friend lets out a noise that sounds like a dying goose. She then proceeds to immediately falls into a fit of laughter and even slaps at her own thighs like a drunk forty year old man. Chihiro snaps out of her gaze, for once confused on what’s so funny rather than annoyed. Her friend’s grin is so large it looks like it’ll split her face and leave her looking like the Joker but all Chihiro could do is stare at her along with the people surrounding them. Chihiro drops her arm to her side.

“Aw, wow, Handa-chan.” She hoots in a way that hardly resembles a teenage girl and she wheezes a couple times before calming down until all that’s left as evidence of her laughing fit is her red cheeks and wide smile. Chihiro’s friend patiently pats at her shoulder.

“You really are on cloud nine, you haven’t even bothered to notice what the team’s school is.” She finally says.

The red-faced girl faces the player that has Chihiro staring in loss with thoughts swirling around her head, and a secret smile blooms on her features, “ _That,_ my dear friend, is the Oikawa-san you’ve been hearing so much about, and the pride and joy of our school.”

 

°

 

From there on Chihiro accepted her fate. Well, sort of. She dug her grave, now she has to lie in it. It’s turned her life into something strange, and she realizes this once she begins finding him _wherever she goes._ Previously she had never run into Oikawa but now all that seems a dream-like memory. It’s ridiculous. Especially how he’s always surrounded by girls squealing for attention and grasping at his arms while whining over him having to leave them so soon. It’s been five times now that she’s walking behind the school buildings towards the soccer fields and she sees Oikawa standing near the trees with a starry-eyed girl sheepishly handing him a love letter.

“Just how many damn times has he even been confessed to?” Chihiro mumbles as she slams her bento open. Her voice is disgruntled enough that her friend laughs. That seems to be happening often lately.

“Don’t even try putting a number to it. Who knows how large his list is. It’s a shame he isn’t interested in dating, though. With all the attention he’s getting.” She says as she snaps open her bag of chips, which Chihiro stares at with a hint of envy.

This answer, however, catches Chihiro’s attention and she perks up at the comment, her eyes becoming alert. She refuses to admit it’s because now she doesn’t have to be worried about Oikawa dating someone else because that is _totally_ not the case.. She doesn’t have a crush on him, alright? She simply admires Oikawa’s ability to keep his life balanced out and how he plays volleyball, which is a great feat in itself seeing as it’s a sport she doesn’t like. It’s out of question how she’s come to accept his talent.

“He isn’t? Why?” She asks, and just barely manages to level out her voice so she doesn’t sound as hysteric for an answer as she feels.

With a shrug, she’s given the reply, “Beats me. He always gives the same response no matter who it is. ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t return your feelings. My heart belongs to volleyball only’. Weird wording, if you ask me but very Oikawa-san-like.  Simple as that. You can say they’re the words all girls dread.” Chihiro pauses in her movements and almost drops her chopsticks. Her eyes widen even further.

“You confessed to him?!”

Her friend laughs and tries not to show her sheepish she has obviously gotten at the revelation, “Once, last year when I was a naïve first year in love for the first time, but he turned me down,” Then her expression changes and she playfully jabs at Chihiro’s side, “Ooh, don’t get jealous, Handa-chan. Nothing involving Oikawa-san ever happened to the likes of me.”

Chihiro hisses and crossly looks away at the in fact very interesting wall beside of her, “I don’t like him. I don’t know what you’re even talking about.”

Her friend laughs, but doesn’t call her out on her lie despite wanting to do just that. The last thing Chihiro needs is to openly accept her complete infatuation towards her beyond attractive senpai. Especially only two days before she talked to him for the first time. Because that’s exactly what happened. Two days later Chihiro actually _spoke_ to Oikawa. As in, exchanged words. Sort of had a conversation.

Chihiro won’t admit it, but she had thought of how she’d get to talk to him for once many times. She’d fantasize about being in his classroom next year before remembering that:

  * He’s a year older and
  * He’s in his last year of high school.



Then she’d think about it raining and her forgetting her umbrella. She’s imagine Oikawa running over to her and walking her home, holding his over both of them like a cheesy anime where a very in love couple walk home together.

But then she’d remember that he has practice after school hours and she always keeps her extra umbrella in her show locker.

Feeling exasperated and stomping a little with every step she takes, she steps into her classroom early in the morning when it’s still alone and takes a seat. She’s started the habit of arriving to school half an hour before class hours for the sole fact that it’s the only time she can get peace and quiet.

That’s when she hears a familiar voice and she startles for a moment while flailing a bit in her seat (thank god no one saw that) while erratically wondering what to do with herself. Until she remembers that she’s in her class seat so there’s no reason to move and she wills herself to calm down. She takes deep breaths and wonders when her heart began pounding so loud in her ears.

“Makki, you can’t be serious!” Oikawa wails. Chihiro blinks, startled at the whiney tone of voice she’s never heard the team captain use. From what she has seen when he’s while surrounded by many and in games, his voice has always been either flirtatious or serious, but always confident. Now it’s tainted with grumpiness.

“We are very, very serious. You’re not allowed to come along,” Another voice says, using no authority, only weariness, “Not after last time that you nearly had us kicked out for flirting with the bartender’s girlfriend.”

“False charges are being thrown at me! I demand a lawyer.”

“Your lawyer resigned because he couldn’t keep up with your defamations. At any rate, you still aren’t going. Next time we’re going to end up spending the night in jail because you can’t stop yourself from lifting your skirt at everyone you meet.”

“Iwa-chan would want me to go so I’m going! You can’t go out into town with the team without your team captain. You’d all fall apart!”

Chihiro freezes and feels her fingers dig into her palm. Iwa-chan? Who’s Iwa-chan?

“You’re talking about the person who _asked_ us to stop you from going out drinking.”

“Huh?! WHAT?!”

Someone sighs, “Oikawa, if you haven’t noticed, it’s early in the morning. Can you stop sc—”

“UNDERAGE DRINKING. THE VOLLEYBALL TEAM –excluding their very, very responsible team captain- ARE GOING OUT TO DRINK LIQUOR ILLICITLY.”

At that moment the door to the classroom starts rattling as someone struggles to slide it open, the bottom seeming caught on something and Chihiro freezes. She did not expect anyone to enter. She still doesn’t get enough time to think of what to do as soon enough a boy, seemingly older than her judging by the color of the rubber on his shoes and with light brown hair, steps in. She literally stops breathing as none other than Oikawa steps in after.

This is the closest she’s ever been to him and to top it off they’re alone. Without his fangirls swarming around him and nearly hiding him from view and without his team surrounding him. (Well, his friend is in the room too, but details).

Oikawa is pouting as the boy (Makki?) makes his way to a desk to the wall and sets his bag on the hook by the side without looking back once. As Oikawa follows his friend while staring down his friend, Chihiro’s glad she sits at the back of the classroom.

“I will not withstand this behavior from my kohai! You see, you must have a responsible adult near when making such bold decisions. In other words, I am obligated to go with you and stop you from forming impulsive choices.” He exclaims, and slams his fist over an imaginary desk as if to prove his point. Makki pauses when he’s pulling away from his bag and turns his head to stare at Oikawa with a blank look. He straightens up as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“Kohai my ass.” He finally pronounces, “You’d probably get plastered after drinking half of Matsu’s pint and hang yourself all over your beloved ‘Iwa-chan’ like every other time.”

Chihiro involuntarily lets out a sound that resembles that of a choking horse as she breathes out at the mention of this ‘Iwa-chan’. Only this time there was given detail of Oikawa’s relationship to her that she can’t help but feel her chest clench at the thought of Oikawa at such close proximity to another girl. It’s not only this but that fact that it’s under his own verdict instead of the other way around. _Oikawa_ throwing himself at another person. The thought is too excruciating.

Oikawa and Makki turn around and she should have expected that. What did she think? That they’d ignore such a noise? Either way she’s fast enough to deduct why they seem so startled to see Chihiro there and predicts it’s because they thought they were alone in the classroom. Chihiro feels her face heating up at the burn of their gazes which are anything but hostile and somehow this makes it even worse. Almost instantaneously Oikawa bends his facial features to form a cheerful beam and he waves at her as though she hadn’t seen him even though he’s only a few steps away.

“Hello! I’m sorry if we’re being loud, are you new to Makki’s classroom?” He inquires, and Chihiro feels herself panic because as much as she’s love to respond and start a conversation with him, she can’t possibly form a single word judging by the way her mouth dries and her throat burns. From behind Oikawa, Makki is raising an eyebrow.

“She’s not.” He declares, and Oikawa turns around to face him in confusion. He follows his gaze to the rubber of her shoes, which reveal the fact that she isn’t a third year. As she finally takes in her surroundings she feels utter horror settle in. This isn’t her classroom.

“Oh! You’re a second year then? Are you lost?”

She can only bring herself to shake her head and her hand aches as her nails dig further into her flesh as if trying to awake from this, whether it’s a dream or nightmare, and her eyes widen as she blurts out n out of place, “Sorry!”

Oikawa, to makes matters worse, only softens his smile at her mortified face and as if sensing her complete embarrassment and trying his best not to make matters worse he cocks his head to the side in what could possibly be the most attractive pose Chihiro has ever seen a guy make. He seems to be trying his best to try to seem harmless, not that that’s what she’s worried about.

“You shouldn’t apologize. We all make that mistake someday.” He says with a slight laugh, rehearsed and light, His gaze is transfixed on her and is it her or is it getting really hard to breathe? She’s in between staring into his eyes for as long as possible since this maybe the only time she’s be given the chance and looking away. Her body ends up not enduring the attention and her instincts drive her to flicker her gaze away. Out of the corner of her eye she distantly sees the shadow of someone quickly walking past the classroom and Oikawa tenses. His smile briefly dwindles.

“Iwa-chan?” He asks no one in particular, voice small and nearing a whisper. He turns to Makki, as if expecting the third year to confirm his suspicions. Makki does no such thing and flatly ignores Oikawa as he leans against the wall with his arms crossed.

Then slowly a wide and bright grin forms on Oikawa’s features, unlike any grin Chihiro has ever seen him give anyone before and she’s caught between admiring the rare smile or feeling terrible over the source of it. She isn’t given the chance to say anything say all before:

“Iwa-chaaaaaan!” Oikawa immediately springs away towards the direction the person went with only a quick grin in Chihiro’s direction, happily jogging away and just barely grabbing his bag to drag behind him. He doesn’t even glance at the way his books are dangerously slipping out with every bounce. Chihiro is left with a strange sense of loneliness as she watches Oikawa chase after a girl, it being the first time she ever is aware of that sight. Something within her seems to die and she tries desperately to ignore the way her chest clenches. Maybe the egg she ate in the morning was bad?

Makki seems to misunderstand her expression though, and he looks at her over his shoulder as he tries to shove something into his bag with close to no effort. He seems to have given up on making space in his bag before even starting.

“Don’t think too hard over it. Oikawa can be a real handful most of the time,” Almost as an afterthought, he offhandedly waves at her, “Hey, I’m Hanamaki, by the way.”

 

°

 

Iwata? Iwayama?

What’s her name? What’s she like? Is she cute? Is she tall? Or maybe Oikawa likes smart girls. Perhaps the athletic type? That makes sense. If Oikawa is committed to volleyball of course he’d go after another girl into the same sport. That’s be logical, right? So maybe that’s all he’s after, and he’s not _actually_ into the idea of dating anymore. She’s wracking her head over this and, honestly, it’s starting to out a strain on her.

Chihiro could easily ask any girl who this ‘Iwa-chan’ is but that’d be admitting to them that just maybe she’s also interested in the setter, and that just won’t do. Although her friends suspect for every time they see her immediately turn at the sound of Oikawa’s voice, she isn’t exactly ready to yell it towards the horizons. And if her friends _do_ know and they’re just humoring her, she isn’t about to complain.

Not long after the beginning of her assessment over her rather complicated situation she noticed that she’s never heard about Iwa-chan from anyone but Oikawa himself. She would have thought that with Oikawa’s attention focused so much on a single girl, all his fangirls would go batshit crazy and start talking trash about the girl, but so far not a single comment. From the event that happened today in the morning it’s been clear that Iwa-chan goes to this school too, so maybe no one knows about Oikawa’s infatuation for a girl? Perhaps Oikawa has tried his best to keep it hidden?

If Chihiro is overthinking it (and, oh god, does she hope this is the case) now would be the time to clear things up before she ends up doing someone ridiculous in order to try and relieve some of the pain.

What if in the morning Oikawa didn’t hold back around her about Iwa-chan because he knew Chihiro wouldn’t breathe a word about it? Has Chihiro gained his trust so easily? Has Oikawa trusted her with such a secret? Chihiro groans and bangs her forehead against her desk repeatedly, ignoring the clattering that ensues from it. The stares she’s getting from her fellow classmates are anything but understanding.

She’s overthinking this and she knows it.

Just then she feels a gentle hand place on her shoulder and looks up to see her friend who is staring at her with an amused smile, “Are you okay, Handa-chan?”

Chihiro’s frown deepens as she watches her friend grab a chair to drag to Chihiro’s desk, lunch already on the table next to Chihiro’s half-eaten one.

“You know, for someone who’s asking whether I’m okay, you sure seem like you’re having a hard time holding back your laughter.”

Her friend only looks up cheekily and there is not doubt on what she is about to respond. But suddenly someone arrives and shuffles to stands by the desk, figure lean and posture awkward. Chihiro looks up and recognizes him as one of the boys in their class who sits at the very back of the room and is usually cracking jokes with the other guys in the room. Watari Shinji, his name is. He seems to be having a hard time trying to look casual, but he’s giving off the opposite vibe.

“Hey… can I ask for a favor?” He asks Chihiro’s friend, and the latter nods for him to continue, her mouth chewing as she waits, “Sorry about suddenly asking for this, but right now you’re the only one I could this ask this of. Uh, can you go to Oikawa-san’s classroom and give him this?” He sets a box on the table and looks sheepish to ask such a favor, “I’ve got to go somewhere right now and he was nice enough to let me borrow those extra shoes last practice. I’d like to give them back today.” Right. He’s in the volleyball team. Chihiro is a bit disturbed at herself for simply _knowing_ there’s something interesting about him that don’t include his terrible puns made during lessons.

“Sure.” Chihiro’s friend replies and Watari grins in response immediately, bobbing his happily at hearing this.

“Thank you so much!” He exclaims and leaves jogging with his bag over his shoulder. The silence that follows is a second too long and with only this Chihiro has started getting a bad feeling about this. When she turns to face her friend her suspicions are proved to be correct. The second year girl is already grinning at her as she not-so-subtly pushes the box closer to Chihiro.

“Third year, class 6. Have fun.”

 

°

 

When Chihiro arrives at the classroom with slightly trembling legs and itchy skin there are, of course, other third years eating inside. She forces herself not to be intimidated as the older teenagers glance at her once noticing her arrival but wanting to be more confident isn’t the same as _being_. She peers in and feels excitement bubble within her at the prospect of speaking to him so soon, while other girls have yet to find a reason to talk to him after years of knowing about his existence. Damn, Chihiro is either lucky or _really_ good. With this she could restore her reputation with him by saying something witty, get his attention and even become his friend. She won’t misuse this opportunity.

Except that when her eyes move across the classroom once, twice, and three times just to make sure, Oikawa is nowhere in sight. She checks once more just in case he was bending behind a desk and hiding from view, but he still isn’t anywhere to be seen. Chihiro bites at her lower lip. Where is he? _How_ is she going to be able to talk to him if he’s not here? Deciding that knowing sooner is better to try and get a grip to know what to do, she moves closer to the nearest desk at the entrance.

“U-um, excuse me.” She taps on a third year’s shoulder, “Oikawa-san isn’t here?” She wants to slap herself. _Obviously_ he isn’t here, for god’s sake. Stating the obvious is not a good start. If she can’t talk to a third year without messing up her words how could she talk to Oikawa? Her training regime needs to tighten up.

The third year looks around briefly, “Huh. You’re right. No wonder it’s so quiet. He probably went to the cafeteria,” He glances down at the shoebox, “If you need to give him that he sits over there,” He points to the far left, “So there’s no need to wait for him to come back. God knows how long he’ll take this time.” She doesn’t notice the way he rolls his eyes and instead follows the gaze towards the desk at the center of the classroom and her eyes widen as she shakes her head.

“N-No! It’s okay. I’d like to give this back to him if that’s alright!”

The third year shrugs, “Suit yourself.” He turns back to his conversation with his friends as if not planning to waste his time talking to yet another one of Oikawa’s fangirls. Chihiro backs away to the wall near the exit, holding the box to her chest as if it means everything to her. Well, right now it does. It’s the pass she was kindly given towards one conversation with Oikawa.

She tries her best not to look too out of place evern though simply her height gives her away and begins looking around the classroom. She can’t help but stare at the couple of girls remaining inside for a while and freezes. Is one of these girls Iwa-chan? Has one of these girls managed to catch Oikawa’s attention? Has one of them managed to make him… fall in _love?_ Naturally, that’s a worst case scenario, Chihiro thinks. The thought of Iwa-chan being in the same classroom as Oikawa. There are many classrooms, so chances are slim, right?

There are really pretty girls here, nonetheless. She isn’t happy to admit it. At the front corner there’s a group of girls surrounding a clothes magazine, already planning for Christmas gifts for their boyfriends and she imagines one of them excitedly talking about an expensive sweater Oikawa would look nice in during New Year’s Day. All of them are either pretty or beautiful and she quickly flickers her eyes away. At the back two girls talk languidly, both with flawless skin and wide eyes as they giggle behind their hands over something. Near the center (near Oikawa’s desk, oh god) another group of girls eat happily as they talk about their future plans. Chihiro hears one of them mention pursuing her athletic career and she’s between trying to listen more carefully and completely shut her out. This classroom is full of possible Iwa-chans’ and this fact isn’t making Chihiro feel any better.

Just as she’s about to leave because for some reason her heart is hammering and she feels her jaw clench in whatever emotion she’s feeling, she hears a pair of footsteps come into the classroom and from her profile she can see two bodies nearing the entrance. Namely, one of them being Oikawa who has finally returned from buying his lunch.

Chihiro lets a large grin spread across her cheeks and perks up as she turns towards the entrance once hearing his voice, ready to call out for him or at least greet him the moment he steps in. Surely all these other girls here are waiting for that opportunity as well, right? She stands straight and happily holds the box in front of her.

“Yeah, yeah. We all know you didn’t want to take care of Takeru-kun instead of going out with us to buy new sports gear. He was doing us a favor, really.” Someone says, and Oikawa squawks in indignation.

“He _bullies_ me, Matsu! That’s psychological damage I could have done just fine without. He called me childish!”

“Well, he’s right.”

“He’s a _child._ ” Oikawa pronounces exasperatedly, as if his point isn’t getting across and he sounds seconds away from performing an entire Shakespeare monologue. He steps into the classroom, plastic bag held tightly in his hand and once again he’s sporting the pout of someone who didn’t get what he wanted. Chihiro blinks once seeing his expression, always taken aback by how absolutely handsome he is, and opens his mouth to call out for him. She ignores how Oikawa’s friend sends her a curious glance once not recognizing her, but she’s interrupted by Oikawa himself. He’s sporting the same rare grin as last time, eyes brightening at an impossible speed.

Without any warning at all except the exaggerated way he opens his mouth to take a deep breath before he exclaims, “Iwa-chaaaaaan!”

At this she instantly swallows up her words. This is it. This is where she finds out which of these beautiful girls is practically dating Aoba Johsai’s star player. The one girl who not only sees him in school, being in the same classroom, but also has him hanging off her. Chihiro wordlessly followed Oikawa’s figure as he steps further into the classroom and—

And he walks directly towards the guy at desk behind his.

“Iwa-chan, I’m back!” Oikawa says happily, and he plops into his seat with his body twisted to face the boy. Matsu follows with a weary sigh that says he’s had to endure this more than once before and Iwa-chan, who is admittedly _not_ a pretty girl but instead an averagely attractive boy, looks at the giddy teen unhappily.

“Do you have my food?” He asks with a scowl, and Oikawa grumbles.

“Iwa-chan~, I went _all_ that way to get you your food and you still treat me badly.” He complains and he sniffs, undignified.

Iwa-chan doesn’t react and he schools his expression into one of indifference, simply extends his hand. Oikawa’s expression perks up from his false gloom and he flashes the other boy a grin as he begins fishing his hand into the bag in his lap, tongue barely peeking out as he does so as if it’s taking a lot of his concentration. Chihiro’s pretty sure she only sees two (maybe three) things in the bag.

“Try not to kill him this time.” Matsu comments out of the bloom as he sits in an empty seat next to their row. Iwa-chan’s expression hardens.

“What did you get me this time?” He barely seems to be asking and instead manages to make it sound like a threat. His features turn frighteningly dark as he stares the setter down.

Oikawa doesn’t even falter as he reaches further into his white bag and takes something out. He proudly holds it over his head and exclaims, “Milk bread!”

“Shittykawa, I swear to fucking god if you say that’s for _me_ —”

“Oikawa-san?” Chihiro can’t help but interrupt, doesn’t know where she even got the confidence to do so. She suspects it has to do with her happiness at the new discovery. How she was wrong all along, and Oikawa is as untouchable to everyone including herself, which honestly makes things so much easier for her. She approached the group of friends in yet another rare moment where he isn’t surrounded by his fangirls and today seems to be going in her favor. She’s over the moon, and her uneasiness is momentarily replaced with cheerfulness. She has found yet another good moment to talk to Oikawa! Surely she’ll be the envy of the female population for the next five years.

Oikawa and company turn to the sound of her voice and stare in a bit of confusion and Oikawa smiles pleasantly.

“Oh… Oh! You’re the girl who accidentally walked into the wrong classroom today! Hello again!” He says, and the grin he’s directing her is almost as bright as the one he was giving Iwa-chan a moment ago. Is this a sign? Does Oikawa like her? Oh god, is today becoming a great one. Her mind is plagued with these contemplations for a long while and this eases her embarrassment at the reminder of this morning. Chihiro uses the benefit of her interminable range of confidence since Oikawa’s arrival and extends her arms to near the box to him. She tries not to feel too happy over him remembering her (and fails miraculously).

“H-Hi! Uh… I’m Handa Chihiro from the same class as Watari-kun? He sends his thanks.” She says, and almost flinches at how unsure she sounds even though she could have sworn her voice was going to come out assertive and firm, not shaky and unconvinced. _Is she telling him or asking him? Jesus Christ._

Oikawa glances down at the box and takes the box gratefully.  He nods his head low briefly at her as he sets in carefully to his side on his desk, lap still covered in a bag containing Iwa-chan’s damned bread.

“Ah, thank you for going out of your way to bring it here. That’s very kind of you!” He says, and seems like he means it, “I forgot mine today and was hoping to catch Watari-kun before he left early today.” Iwa-chan is silent for a moment, seeming concentrated on opening his bottle and looks up to see Chihiro staring at him. He pauses and blinks, and for a moment he seems to debate whether to add something. He ends up nodding, turns to Chihiro and his lips purse in what could be an attempt at a friendly smile.

“Yeah, thank you. I’m so sorry Oikawa is so incompetent that he couldn’t even go pick that up himself.” He deadpans.

“ _Excuse me_?!”

“Ha. Nice one, Iwaizumi.”

“Matsu!” Oikawa wails in accusation and looks betrayed, arms crossed but yet never letting go of his bag.

“Stop denying the truth.”

“It’s _not_ the truth, Iwa-chan. I simply _forgot_ because I’m a _human being._ ”

“Oh really?” Iwaizumi doesn’t even blink as he stares at the team captain, “For a moment I thought you were an alien.”

Oikawa gasps and leans closer, “Really?” He asks, stars in his eyes and seemingly with his guard down, one Chihiro didn’t even know he _had._

Not that it matters, Chihiro compromises. She sighs in relief. Thank god. She really went overboard with actually thinking Oikawa would secretly start dating a girl. She doesn’t have anything to worry about anymore. Iwa-chan was only another friend of his.

 

°

 

Chihiro doesn’t know what she’s doing here. Wait no. Scratch that. She knows _exactly_ what she’s doing here and the reason comes in the form of a very fit and tall volleyball player with stylish hair and straight white teeth.

Squeals fill the gym once the door to the gym opens up to the point where they almost block out the sounds of squeaking sneakers and bouncing balls. High pitched yells say, “Oikawa-san! Do your best!” This is retaliated with Oikawa smiling and looking up to wave at the girls. This, naturally, only intensifying the screaming. Chihiro watches in amusement and a tinge of jealousy as Oikawa doesn’t even seem to notice she’s there but can’t bring herself to scream with them. Something within her says _do something that will make Oikawa look at you, stupid!_ but the most rational part says that doing something of that sort would only end in disaster. So she settles for watching the setter as he complains to Iwaizumi over the volleyball to the head he received from the latter.

For a brief moment Chihiro allows herself to wonder how she never really noticed Iwaizumi. Though she hates to admit it, she usually notices every person near Oikawa when close enough and is hyper aware of who his friends are whether it’s at lunch or just they’re just walking through the halls. And after noticing Iwaizumi for the first time now she’s really aware of his presence as well, and constantly sees him with Oikawa. She snaps out of her thoughts and looks away when she realizes she was unintentionally staring Iwaizumi down, but thankfully no one seems to have noticed. Nearby she hears her thought aloud.

“Iwaizumi-san and Oikawa-san’s friendship is a little odd, don’t you think?” A girl nearly giggles into her hand as she stands with her friends a few feet away, and her friends join her in her amusement.

“Yeah,” Another admit with a hum and grin as if the opportunity to talk about Oikawa were a blessing in itself, “I wonder how they met. When you see them together it’s like they don’t get along, when really it’s exactly the opposite!” This comment ensues more goodhearted laughs and Chihiro leans closer, finding the conversation interesting.

“Well, I heard from Kunimi-kun that they’re childhood friends. They even started playing volleyball together.”

“Awwww, that’s so cute!” They all coo at the likes of small Iwaizumi and Oikawa practicing volleyball through stumbling feet and unpolished techniques. It’s not hard to imagine it, and Chihiro winces as she thinks of a seven year old Iwaizumi throwing a volleyball at Oikawa’s head.

Back on the court everyone has already started their warm-ups for the practice match, talking calmly as they move their ankles in circular motions. Oikawa is coolly telling everyone to finish up and Iwaizumi, as co-captain, yells at them in a strict manner to not do things halfway before glaring at the team menacingly. Two members pause in their movements and stare at him. Chihiro watches in amusement as Hanamaki gasps and says, “Could it be?”

“Could this be it?” Matsukawa adds with a gasp of his own, and he holds his hand in front of his mouth melodramatically (he strangely looks exactly like an actor from the kdrama she was watching last night).

“The day that—” Hanamaki continues but is interrupted by his friend.

“That Iwaizumi _actually_ quotes Oikawa of all people on something?” Matsukawa finishes, and they’re obviously referring to Oikawa’s motto Chihiro has heard so much about (“If you’re going to hit it, hit it until in breaks.” Chihiro remembers her friends fawning over the quote as they bent around a table where Monthly Volleyball was propped against). Iwaizumi’s eyes narrow on the two players and he steps forward ominously with his hands clenched but his menacing posture doesn’t even seem to make his friends flinch.

“It’s really creepy when you finish each other’s sentences like that.” He spits out. Matsukawa wrinkles his nose at his proximity and tilts his face away.

“Ha!” Hanamaki exclaims and at the same time Matsukawa says, “Pot meet kettle.”

Iwaizumi opens his mouth, seems to be ready to retort as his arm dangerously rises but the whistle blows. They step away and automatically move to their positions, almost as if they were in a trance. Strangely enough, Chihiro can relate. She’s become entranced with the sound, almost like a sound she comes back down to and her eyes almost naturally follow the ball. She belatedly notices it always comes back to Oikawa. It’s almost like a sequence the students are too used to, up to the point that when Aoba Johsai wins no one feels surprised anymore. Chihiro feels weirdly proud to be part of this school all of the sudden and feels pride welling up inside her as the dejected members of the other team begin to drag their feet towards the benches.

It’s then when it’s signaled that the practice match has finished, and Chihiro knows she’s run out of reason to be there so she silently begins exiting the gym. She’s come to get used to it and doesn’t feel too bummed out anymore as she always leaves quickly while avoiding bumping into anyone for one simple reason. All the crap she talked about volleyball before, she doesn’t feel excited over the prospect of her friends giving her one of their smug grins while asking, “Oh, Chihiro. What are _you_ doing here?” as if they don’t already know damn well what she’s doing there.

Not to mention that if other girls figure out she’s developed a bit of a crush on their precious Oikawa-san most of them won’t welcome her into the club with open arms. It’s a given considering Chihiro has seen how they elbow each other out of the way when surrounding the setter. They’re all competing for the same thing and Chihiro refuses to think about how these girls have been trying for years longer than she has, yet still haven’t gone anywhere in their progress.

She heads down the stairs and begins walking towards the exit but just as she’s about to take the first step away from the volleyball courts she feels something cold and liquid fall to her from. Chihiro finds herself soaked in water. She’s inept in doing anything but blink in surprise and slowly looks down to stare at her own clothes in horror because she swears the sky was clear today, not to mention she’s still _indoors._

“Oh shit. Fuck, I am _so so_ sorry,” Iwaizumi says, eyes rivaling those of an anime character. Chihiro nods dumbly and swallows before she looks up to Iwaizumi’s horror stricken face, “Uh, here. I— I think I have an extra gym shirt in my locker.” He doesn’t even let her respond before he scurries away, sending her another regretful glance that contains an expression if not a bit embarrassed and he walks back into the gym. Chihiro only presumes she’s supposed to follow him so she drags her feet after him until she’s standing at the foot of the locker room which she has no intention of entering. She feels more than a bit awkward as she shifts her weight from one foot to another and looks around without really _looking._ Her mind is too jumbled to try and pay attention to her surroundings.

“Ah, hello again! It seems fate has brought us together once again!” She hears, and if she couldn’t talk before, her mouth is completely hopeless the moment she turns around and sees how Oikawa grins at her, towel in hand wiping at the sweat.

“You know, people might get the wrong idea if they see you standing outside the boys’ club room so nonchalantly, Handa-chan.” He continues, and Chihiro feels her face slowly bleeding red, feeling flustered with his words about fate but at the same time embarrassment. He’s right. It _is_ strange that a girl stands outside along. The thought is almost instantly set aside though as she realizes: It’s the first time he’s said her name.

Remembering she’s supposed to say something, she stammers, “N-no! I was just—uh—water—” but her words are as great as explaining her situation as silence, except that staying quiet would have saved her from further humiliation.

And so she realizes a second too late that it was just him kindly teasing her, notices when a gentle smile colors his features. He’s clearly trying to make her feel better despite her inability to continue on with a conversation he has so generously started. As he makes no move to leave her there and enter the locker rooms to get changed there into clean clothes Chihiro realizes he’s trying to give her company, unmistakably noticing she’s waiting for someone. Chihiro is so thrilled by the implication she doesn’t hear nearing footsteps.

“Knock it off. I accidentally spilled water on her. I told her I could give her my extra shirt.” Iwaizumi steps out of the club room and closes the door behind her, his gaze sending daggers Oikawa’s way. Chihiro catch hold back from attentively watching in amazement as Oikawa’s calm and sympathetic smile slowly morphs into something scheming and, well, _wicked_. His eyes twinkle in delight as he prepares to say whatever has come to mind, and he finally cries out, “Iwa-chan, you pervert! Getting a girl wet just so you could see her in your shirt!”

Iwaizumi immediately furrows his eyebrows and scowls as he stretches his arm to give Chihiro his white shirt, not even glancing at her, “Shut up, that’s not true!”

“Peeeeeeervert!”

Chihiro winces and her eyes move from one to the other. She feels unease crawling up her spine as Iwaizumi inches closer and closer nastily all while Oikawa continues to call Iwaizumi depraved in as many creative ways he can childishly think of. This continues and soon their noses are touching but neither flinch away. Oikawa looks delighted as his mouth keeps running and he stares down at Iwaizumi as he faces the sky, clearly flaunting their slight height difference. It’s like they haven’t even noticed how near one another they are and, well—

They are close, obviously. Now she knows they’ve been friends since they were kids thanks to the girls flaunting over their friendship but it’s just so… strange to see it firsthand. How at ease they are with each other despite how Iwaizumi makes it look like the opposite with his constant irritation towards the other.

Oikawa is usually calm, polite, and smiling kindly at everyone (especially his fans) but seeing how completely different he is with Iwaizumi is unsettling. He turns into someone seemingly annoying, someone who’s not as smooth as he appears to be. He gets an evil glint in his eye and sniggers in a way he’d never show others. He seems more human than any other person would expect. They’re just so in synch with each other and that’s impossible not to see when they play volleyball together, and even now as Oikawa ducks away from Iwaizumi half a second before the latter tries to punch him.

_It’s fine, right?_ , Chihiro wonders and she silently stares at how Iwaizumi ignores Oikawa’s yells of surrender as the setter is trapped in a headlock, _They’re just friends._

 

°

 

Chihiro has found herself doing a lot of strange stuff lately due to the amount of anxiety constantly pulling her heartstrings lately, but now that she crouches down and winces as her uniform gets dusted with dirt and possibly bug corpses, she thinks this one takes the cake. That much is evident as she leans forward as much as she can, her ears straining to hear every word being uttered.

“What I mean to say, Oikawa-san, is that I’ve admired you and the way you’re so cool. My friends and I think you’re an amazing team captain and you’re attractive too. So, em—Oikawa-san, please accept my feelings!” The girl with the large bow in her hair and typical haircut is now bowing with arms stretched in front of her. She appears to be offering a box, most likely filled with something sweet. Chihiro lifts her gaze to catch Oikawa’s reaction. He makes no move to take the gift and waits until the girl looks up to bow in return sincerely.

“I’m sorry, Tachibana-chan, but I can’t return your feelings. My heart belongs to volleyball only.” He repeats the words Chihiro has heard he’s done many times before. He looks sorry as he watches her try to hold back her tears and straighten up. Oikawa patiently waits as Tachibana pulls herself together. She holds out the box again but doesn’t look him in the eye.

Voice watery, she says, “Please accept these chocolates. They were made with all my feelings put into them and I’d appreciate it if you ate them at the very least.”

Oikawa nods in understanding as if he expected her to say something of that sort. He takes the box, “Thank you.”

Oikawa watches stoically as she hurries away from him, not moving even an inch with the box weighing in his hand. Once she’s completely out of sight he finally cracks and sighs. He twists his body towards her direction and for a moment Chihiro thinks she’s been caught only to realize he’s just popping his back, eyes halfway closed. After, Oikawa stares at the box in his hands as if it were personally offending him, almost wondering what he should do with it.

“Oi! What the hell are you doing here? Class is about to start, dickhead.”

Chihiro watches as Oikawa’s head snaps up and he immediately grins at the sight of Iwaizumi walking towards him with his arms crossed. He doesn’t seem the slightest bit upset that he just received a scowling from his friend despite technically being his superior (well, in volleyball anyway).

“I got another confession, _duh._ What else would I be doing here at the most cliché place for declaring love in the school?” Oikawa wags his eyebrows suggestively at the prospect of whatever else he could be doing there. Iwaizumi ignores his evocative expression and looks ready to fire something back, mouth already open but he pauses once his eyes land on the box. His mouth closes and he blinks.

“You accepted the confession?” He asks in surprise, “That’s a first.”

“Nah, but she insisted I take the chocolates, and how could I refuse to fulfill her last request?” Oikawa laughs and he immediately gets a disgusted look in return.

“Hey, it’s rude to take something like that without accepting their feelings,” Iwaizumi snaps and he smacks the back of Oikawa’s head so fast that his friend never had a chance at ducking away, “Didn’t your mom ever teach you any manners, idiot?” Oikawa rubs at his head.

“My mom taught me the _best_ manners, thank you very much,” Oikawa says with a slight whine in his voice, and he sniffs before adding, “I just accepted them because I know Iwa-chan loves chocolates!”

Iwaizumi responds a beat too late, eyes focuses on his best friend. He seems to be evaluating him with narrowed eyes. He look in his eyes says he’s arrived at a conclusion in his assessment soon after, though, because his expression clears and he rolls his eyes. He declares, “You’re the worst.”

“Iwa-chan! Don’t you want the chocolates? HEY, don’t leave me behind!”

 

°

 

Chihiro has started doing something. It’s a dirty secret. One not worth risking other people to find out about so she limits this new habit to the privates of her mind. But sometimes she can’t help but giggle about it. It’s _her_ dirty secret and it’s so nice to do it she doesn’t even have it in herself to feel bad. She just _can’t_ because one thing she’s found out is that the best things in life are prohibited.

It’s about _Tooru._ That’s what she calls him now. She doesn’t bother with etiquettes nor honorifics because to her, he’s just _Tooru._ Chihiro has never heard anyone call him be called by his first name, not even Iwaizumi-san, so it’s like a privilege she has. One she sometimes likes to imagine only she has for the older boy.

She feels like she’s earned the right, weirdly so. Tooru _knows_ her now, and calls to her in those rare moments he’s close enough to. He is so polite, waving at her when she’s near enough to call out a ‘Good morning, Handa-chan!’ which Chihiro is _pretty_ sure will make her the victim of half the world’s population jealousy. Maybe she should begin being more careful as she walks alone to places. She never knows when they’ll strike, demanding to know how she came to be one of Tooru’s best friends and challenging her to give up tips on how they could achieve this too. It’s only logical.

(Okay, so just maybe Chihiro is exaggerating a small bit, but that’s beside the point.)

She doesn’t mind being lost in her thoughts considering they genuinely make her happy even though she tends to make things much more nicer than they are, but she’s brought back to reality (which she has concluded isn’t so bad) when a voice clears their throat and says civilly, “Excuse me? Can you move please?”

Chihiro snaps her head up and finds herself staring into confused eyes. The guy’s gaze clears and he says, “Oh, you’re the girl who went into the wrong classroom that day.”

Chihiro’s cheeks, of course, immediately color at having gained such a reputation with that one time she was too asleep to watch where she was going. Oh well. At least he remembers her.

“Oh, hello Hanamaki-san! I’m sorry!” Chihiro exclaims and moves to the side, clearly recalling Tooru’s friend’s name but the moment she finishes she freezes. Was that weird? Should she have pretended she didn’t remember him? Or at least that she didn’t remember his name? Deciding it’s too late now anyway, she purses his lips. Hanamaki doesn’t really react in any way but with a nod but doesn’t move. He hesitates and rubs at the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable.

“Uh, what are you doing here alone?” He asks awkwardly, and motions towards their surroundings. At the lone and dark part of the school outskirts. It’s then that Chihiro realizes Hanamaki must not be comfortable with leaving her alone there, since it’s not safe even if it’s near the school campus (rumors have been spiraling around about how a girl was nearly raped nearby and since Chihiro concluded not all rumors are full of shit she supposes she shouldn’t take chances).

“I just—wanted fresh air.” Chihiro thinks fast, and smiles brightly. She hopes she didn’t come off as fake.

Hanamaki hums in acknowledgment as if he can relate to the sentiment and looks over her shoulder, “Don’t you think it’s a bit… obscure here? Why don’t you head inside?”

Chihiro considers lying for a moment since the truth is a bit too embarrassing to say. Admitting you have a limited amount of friends you’d actually enjoy eating with is not something fun after they’ve all said they’re too busy with club activities to hang out with her. She rather not say that to a member of the volleyball club who, naturally, happens to have many friends because of his extra-curricular occupation. In the end she ignores this in order to continue talking to one of Tooru’s friends.

“I-I don’t really have anyone to eat with during lunch so I’m waiting here until lunch is over. I don’t want to look weird eating alone.” Chihiro finally admits with a wince, realizing exactly how much a loser she just sounds like. There’s a brief silence that follows until Hanamaki clears his throat and not so subtly checks his clock, clearly looking for a way to walk away to meet his friends without seeming rude.

“If you’d like… you can sit with me and my friends. We’re meeting at the roof today so there’s enough room and all.” He finally says, and Chihiro has to physically restrain herself from jumping onto him and screaming ‘YES’ until the Gods themselves make a show out of thunderstorms to shut her up. What she _does_ do, though, is grin widely and nod until her neck hurts. She doesn’t even care that the only reason she was invited was because of the pity he felt. None of that matters because she’s going to see Oikawa again after such a short while.

And so that’s how Chihiro finds herself silently following Hanamaki through the school and up a series of stairs until he’s pushing the steel door open and holds it for her. For a moment she feels dumbed down and doesn’t know what to do so she glances up at him. He responds by pointing his head towards the other direction to indicate that she should move along. She nervously steps outside, hands clasping her lunchbox in front of her, and stares at the small group of friends sitting on the floor near the wall.

Naturally the first person she notices is Tooru since her eyes are always drawn to him, but he’s not the first to notice her. The first person to see someone out of their circle of friends on the roof is Iwaizumi, who was halfway into eating a mouthful of his lunch but paused once the door opened. His eyes glance at her and he gives the smallest of bows (a bob of his head, really) before showing his food into his mouth as he had previously been about to.

Tooru—Tooru was lying down. With his head in Iwaizumi’s lap, to be more precise (Just as Hanamaki had opened the door Chihiro had clearly heard him say, “Iwa-chan! Feed me!”). When he looked up with a grin, probably expecting only Hanamaki his smile froze and he hurriedly sat up as if that’d make Chihiro believe she imagined him in the position he was in before. She had plenty of time to process the position they were in and for a moment Tooru looks afraid because of it. Iwaizumi glances at Tooru, confused at the rapid movements to move away from him but seems to decide he doesn’t care either way and continues on with what he was doing.

When Chihiro looks back at Tooru, the latter is already looking as if nothing were wrong. He says, “Handa-chan! Hello! What has brought you here today?” He’s nearly always smiling pleasantly, just like right now no matter how much his fans are annoying him or how stressed he is during a game. Chihiro came to that conclusion long ago but she can’t let it go. It gives her the feeling of something cold unfolding into her stomach as she notices the smile he’s giving her is nothing like the one he had one before he noticed her. It’s the same one he always gives other girls he rarely talks to.

“I invited her along.” Hanamaki listlessly says, and he plops himself next to Matsukawa who immediately scoots to give him space.

“I hope you don’t mind.” Chihiro says quietly, cheeks probably tinging judging by how hot they feel. Tooru waves at her nonchalantly.

“Of course not! The more the merrier, right?” He receives various mumbles of agreement from teenagers who don’t really care and he pats the seat next to him. Chihiro bounces a bit on her feet as she moves to sit next to the setter without any hesitance.

“Ah, Oikawa-san. Coach had me tell you that next week we have a practice match so training should be more consistent. He wanted you to take care of telling the rest of the team.” Everyone turns to the boy speaking, the first year, and Tooru’s smile turns into a grin, almost like the one he had on before. He seems to be excited.

“Ooh, a match? Against who?” Matsukawa asks.

“Is it going to be one against Johzenji again? Those guys get on my nerves.” Chihiro recognizes Shinji Watari, the guy from her classroom, who is scowling like the simple mention of the school is a pain in the ass. He flinches when Hanamaki hits him on the shoulder (a bit too hard, apparently, because Watari hits the building’s wall with a thump).

“Hey, I actually like those guys! They’re refreshing and unexpected.” He argues.

“ _They always lose though._ ”

“Actually,” The first year at the far other side tries to speak loudly, Yutaro Kindaichi, but no one seems to hear him, “Guys!” His efforts are not wasted though it may seem like that at first, because Tooru slams Iwaizumi’s lunch box against the floor with surprising strength (even surprising for the team captain of the volleyball club) and he stares at everyone until they all quiet down. Tooru gives a conceding smile.

“Who are we against, Kindaichi?” He asks.

Kindaichi responds with a grateful half-smile and says, “Karasuno, Oikawa-san.”

“Oh, Karasuno!” Chihiro can’t help but exclaim her hands planted in front of her and she leans forward, closer to the team.

“You know them?” Watari asks, surprised. Chihiro nods enthusiastically, happy to finally be part of the conversation even if it’s something she has limited knowledge about. She’ll take what she could get and try to make the best of it.

“I met one of their players really briefly. The—The one with the—the hair!” Chihiro tries to recreate #10’s hair using her hands and crazy gestures, “The orange hair! Hinata! That was his name!” She finally recalls with a grin. Everyone stares at her in a second of silence as they tried to remember the members until someone exclaims, “Oh, their insanely fast middle blocker!” At these words everyone ‘ahhhh’s and Chihiro giggles at how they can be so forgetful over someone as Hinata.

With a reason whatsoever everyone turns to Tooru and out of curiosity Chihiro does as well and she blinks once seeing the scowl on his face that definitely wasn’t there a moment ago. Tooru huffs and crosses his arms .

“Chibi-chan is _annoying,_ ” He says, and Chihiro swears she hears someone sigh and mumble ‘ _Not again_ ’. Tooru ignores the input and turns away from them, lips in an angry pout, “He’s not even that good!” Iwaizumi stops, looks up and blinks at Tooru. At this expression Chihiro realizes Iwaizumi’s about to say something incredibly blunt. It’s not a hard thing to foresee.

“You have a really shit personality, you know that?” And there it is. Iwaizumi doesn’t miss a beat as he adds, “You’re just annoyed because you couldn’t block him last time.” He plops more food onto his tongue. Once he notices Tooru’s glare he begins to chew slowly, unblinkingly. Chihiro watches as they seem to have a silent conversation (or argument, judging by how Iwaizumi’s eyebrow has started to angrily twitch) but it ends with Tooru huffing more theatrically and scooting away from Iwaizumi, closer to Chihiro. She bites back a grin. If only she could inconspicuously stretch her right leg a bit and their thighs would be touching.

“Not to mention he’s scared his kohai will surpass him.” Matsukawa chimes in a little too happily considering their captain’s pride is riding on this conversation.

“Kohai?” Chihiro asks, and wonders this person’s relationship with Tooru. When did one of his kohais become a rival? Matsukawa hums in agreement and nods, slaps Yahaba’s hand away from his food without even glancing down.

“Kageyama Tobio. He’s a proper genius as a setter.” Chihiro’s eyes widen at the name, surprised at how one half of that name sounds familiar.

_“Kageyama is going to kill me.”_ Chihiro remembers Hinata desperately trying to slap sense into himself (quite literally) and wonders how the world could be so tiny sometimes. She’s regretfully starting to understand Tooru’s fears when she remembers the match between Seijoh and Karasuno, how Hinata and #9— _Kageyama_ matched perfectly with one another. Kageyama’s precision with every toss. It was… scary to watch.

“He’s got natural talent, so what! I have _experience,_ something much more valuable!” Tooru cries out, but no one spares him a glance besides Chihiro. Noticing how rude his team members are acting Tooru squawks in indignation and wails when Iwaizumi elbows him further away with a slightly sickened look.

“They went to middle school together at Kitagawa Daichi. Kageyama was this close,” Hanamaki moves his thumb and index finger until the points are almost touching, “To beating Oikawa as a setter.”

“That is a vile _lie,_ Makki! I’ve never even been jealous of someone as uncool as him!” Tooru yells and he raises his hand to threaten to throw his food at his friend. Hanamaki responds by tilting his head back and opening his mouth, ready to catch it. Tooru frowns and shoves it in his own mouth instead.

“You act as if you’re cool after trying to punch him during our last year there.” Iwaizumi mutters and the moment Tooru hears these words he honest to god _pouts._ He pouts like a _toddler_ and grabs at Iwaizumi’s lunchbox. Iwaizumi immediately reaches for it, chopsticks flailing a bit in his hand but Tooru’s long limbs keep his food out of reach.

“Iwa-chan, have you heard about how spikers should be nice to their setters? Because it’s totally true.” He pronounces, and Iwaizumi tries harder to reach for his food without having to stand up. His arms strains and stretches out, but even as he reaches over Tooru’s body to get closer it seems to be no use. Chihiro watches the situation with attentive eyes, catching every part of their bodies that they touch like how Iwaizumi’s sleeve is grazing Tooru’s arm but no one else even glimpses at them. They act as if they’re too used to this sort of thing.

“Oikawa, for fuck’s sake—”

“Say _please_ and _I’m sorry, Oikawa-senpai_ or you’re never getting your food back~” He sings back and Iwaizumi starting to look genuinely pissed off as he then tries using his chopsticks to add to his arm length even though it’s obviously fruitless.

“Tooru, I swear to fucking god if you don’t give me back my food I’ll call your mom.” Tooru lets out a dramatic gasp.

“Tattletale! You’ve always been a huge tattletale!” He cries.

“That’s _you,_ Shittykawa.”

But Chihiro isn’t listening anymore.

_Tooru._

_Tooru._

_Tooru._

_Iwaizumi-san called him by his first name._

Chihiro forces herself to look away and her lips press together it what could be anger. Suddenly calling Oikawa by his first name isn’t special anymore, she realizes, and sends a death glare Iwaizumi’s way. She looks around as a last hope to see if anyone will mention this but all she sees are tired gazes talking with one another and pointedly trying to ignore what’s happening in front of them (with the exception of Iwaizumi’s annoyed one and Oikawa’s one of agony ‘ _jesus, iwa-chan! Are you trying to kill me?!_ ’).

“I don’t know why you’re so rude to Hinata-kun though, Oikawa-senpai. I sort of get your fucked up envy over Kageyama and him easily surpassing you but—” Kunimi is interrupted by one of the second years hissing at him to not _admit_ someone being better than their setter because that only makes things worse, but he continues anyway, “ _But_ Hinata-kun really isn’t a big shot. He plays like he barely started volleyball yesterday.”

Oikawa’s eyebrow is twitching in barely continued rage at Kunimi’s first sentence and he reaches towards his kohai with his hand aiming towards his neck. He seems to want to clasp his throat to most likely choke him but Iwaizumi easily sets his hand on his shoulder and plops him back to his seat. It doesn’t go as planned though because the direction of Oikawa’s body lands him in his lap. The setter sends a desperate glance Chihiro’s way in what seems to be hope that she didn’t see and he rapidly slides back to the pavement. Chihiro watches as everyone sends a surprised stare at Oikawa, and she’s fairly sure it’s not because of his attempted murder.

“Hinata’s fast and he can jump. That’s, like, half of what volleyball’s about so far.” Matsukawa continues, and avoids the shoe Oikawa aggressively throws his way. Desperate to attract attention her way again, to take it away from Iwaizumi, makes her blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

“Oh, but I’m sure you are reading the situation wrong!” Chihiro finds herself saying, and ignores the way her face flames up as everyone stares at her considering she doesn’t even know what she’s saying. She barely even knows anything of the sport, “Speed, natural talent. It’s not about that! In the end it’s about whose better at keeping the ball in the air. And from what I’ve seen no one’s better than Oikawa-san.” She prays to Buddha, Allah, Jesus and Satan all at once that she didn’t just sound stupid saying that. She sags in relief once Oikawa regains his composure at these words though technically this could mean nothing. It’s come to be clear that Oikawa can manipulate his body and expressions to fake reactions.

“I wholeheartedly agree! Thank you, Handa-chan,” He makes it seem as if he was never looked down upon as he stares into the eyes of each one of his teammates. His expression looks strangely poised and stern as it did during the tournament, “We’re going to finals to compete against Shiratorizawa soon, don’t forget that. I’m counting on you.” He says and it’s amazing to see how easily he manages to gain the aura of a captain. How confident he feels even outside the court. No one makes a move to say otherwise and they straighten up at seeing their captain gain that looks in his eye.

Everyone nods.

From the other side of the group Chihiro hears a teammate say in a mocking voice, “You should have come to Shiratorizawa.”

Or, well, there are apparently also times Oikawa isn’t taken seriously.

 

°

 

Chihiro has found ‘Plan B’, in other words a second part to her strategy named ‘Become-Oikawa’s-Lover’. If truth be told, it’s not exactly an innovative idea but so far it’s all she has. The magazine in her arms, she means. It’s a bit too pink and a little too childish but the description at the bottom of the title states ‘These few steps are guaranteed to work!’ so it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?

She’s decided to give a different approach to the situation. It’s no longer about becoming Oikawa’s friend because that’s taking way too long and that would take spending loads of time with the captain, time that she really doesn’t have because whenever she talks to Oikawa it’s always in passing before he’s attacked into a hug by one of his fans or he has to leave for practice. In the past week after eating with him and his friends they’ve talked once and that was just when Chihiro saw him walk towards the cafeteria and yelled a good morning even though it was already evening.

So it’s not going well. She has to up her game and she prays that her friends will abandon her once more so she can ‘run into’ Hanamaki again (stalk him until she walks out of her hiding place where she’ll be in his way and he’ll see her alone) so he could invite her again. Disappointedly, her friends have already apologized a million times and said it wouldn’t happen again.

Chihiro looks down at her desk. The words ‘Ways to Let Your Crush Know You Like Him!’ glare back up at her. She sighs and bangs her head against her table several times and ignores her mom’s yell asking what that sound is.

Chihiro is really, really getting desperate but at least desperation gets things done.

 

**°ACT I- Ask Questions to Show You Care°**

Chihiro is currently standing next to the school store, pretending to be waiting for a friend as she plays with the money in her hand and looks around. A couple people give her strange looks as she stands near the heart of all the commotion of people pushing to get to the front of the store, but her eyes finally land on Oikawa who is arriving for his daily serve of bread and her eyes brighten.

Before even his fans could notice she jogs up to him and says, “Hello, Oikawa-san!” As an afterthought she adds to the boy standing next to him, “Hello, Iwaizumi-san.” The latter nods to her and keeps looking around, watching as everyone moves like ants around him. Oikawa smiles back and hardly looks surprised to see her there, but it’s probably due to the fact that he’s hiding it for her sake.

“Handa-chan! Hello, good morning.” He says and he stops walking to face her. Iwaizumi seems annoyed for a moment and he mutters something sounding like ‘you dragged me here to buy your stupid lunch. If you’re going to take a lot of time then at least let me fucking leave’ but Oikawa ignores him.

“What are you here to buy?” Chihiro asks, and mentally slaps herself. Was that really a good way to approach a conversation? No, of course not, but Chihiro only has a few moments before they’re interrupted so _excuse her_ if she’s a bit stressed out, for fuck’s sake. Oikawa’s smile goes lopsided and it’s obvious he’s amused by her choice of words judging by the way his eyes twinkle in delight.

“Custard bread! It tastes amazing, you know.” He responds, weirdly delighted by the question. Chihiro mentally high fives herself. In that moment Iwaizumi blows out air though as he stares at the crowd of people desperately, as if hoping they’d disappear and he takes a step towards the exit but without taking his eyes off Chihiro, Oikawa’s hand shoots out and grabs his friend to stop him from leaving.

“Oh, yeah. It really is! Doesn’t it taste savory?” Chihiro responds, trying to keep the conversation going. She’s bullshitting her way through all of this. Never in her like has she tried custard bread, but she hopes she looks like she knows what she’s talking about. Oikawa grins at her, the one that doesn’t look like the one he gives his friends (the one that’s reserved for the public).

“I’m hungry.” Iwaizumi mumbles, voice barely perceptible and words barely loud enough to understand. He sighs and shoves his hands into his pockets and when both Chihiro and Oikawa turn to him his startled expression is enough to tell that he didn’t expect anyone to hear him.

“You’re the one who didn’t bring any food today or money.” Oikawa responds.

“I do have food. I just don’t like Italian.” Iwaizumi snaps back, glaring at his friend as if defending his honor. For once in his entire life, roles seem reversed as Oikawa stares at his friend exasperatedly.

“So?” Then he pauses, “Wait, that’s a _lie!_ You totally like pasta.”

“I don’t.”

“You do~! Two Christmas’s ago you kept telling your aunt her pasta was delicious! You know, the one who lives near Rome or something? Plus, you’re always craving pizza.”

“Craving pizza isn’t the same as actually liking it, dumbass.”

“What are you, a pregnant woman?” Oikawa scoffs back, arms crossed and sniffing indignantly. Just when Iwaizumi seems like he’s going to retort something back, though, he adds, “I just wanted to buy my food. I didn’t anticipate such harsh words, you know. _Bully._ ”

“You said you were going to cut back on bread just yesterday,” Iwaizumi snaps, “So there is literally no reason for you to be here and have _dragged_ me here.”

“Custard bread is healthy!”

“It’s cancer in a bag. You said it yourself.”

“That was when I was _sick._ ”

“For eating seven breads in less than three hours.”

Oikawa’s bottom lip juts out in an aggravated pout as he stares Iwaizumi down and then turns to Chihiro, grins at her in such a convincing way it’s impossible to have figured out he was having a strange argument with his friend moments before. With a cheery tone of voice that often characterizes him he says, “You’ll have to excuse us, Handa-chan. See you around!”

Almost exactly at that moment various high voices cry out ‘Oikawa-san~!’ and Chihiro is pushed back by the crowd that surrounds the third year as he greets everyone with bright words and an even brighter smile. He’s rendered useless as it seems impossible for him to escape. She sighs and deems the first phase of her plan a complete fail and notices that all the girls that surrounded the small school store have left to talk to the volleyball player. The store is now nearly empty, and Chihiro watches as Iwaizumi gives the lady behind the counter money and takes a bag of custard bread.

 

**°ACT II- Break The Touch Barrier°**

Chihiro knows it’s only going to get trickier from here on. She knows it, her friend knows it, even her dead grandmother (may she rest in peace) knows it. But she’s not about to give her efforts on Oikawa. Not even close. Iwaizumi’s weird closeness to her senpai only makes her more determined to break whatever friendship they have in order to grow closer.

She won’t give up after only one failed attempt, this is what she keeps telling herself as she moves determinedly towards her crush after watching one of the team’s practices. She’s not the only girl hoping to catch the captain before he leaves, but she’ll manage (she has sharp elbows she can put to use when girls begins surrounding him).

“What are you on about this time?” Out of all the times Chihiro has seen Matsukawa around Oikawa, she has never seen him as unamused as he is this time. On the other hand, Hanamaki seems to have trouble breathing as he clutches at his sides and rolls on the floor. His face is a dangerous color of purple.

“I can’t believe,” He gasps for air, “You actually thought your mom,” Gasp, “Adopted you from _Mars_.”

“It was a logical possibility!” Oikawa argues back, and he quickly forms a sweet smile as he waves at a group of girls who scream his name.

“You didn’t understand the evolution of human beings and so you begin to try and convince others it’s because you aren’t from this planet while actually being certain of it yourself,” Iwaizumi is clutching a volleyball tightly in his hands and looks treacherously close to popping it, “How fucking stupid _are_ you?!”

“I’m not stupid, Iwa-chan! I just have a better understanding of how the world works than you.”

Iwaizumi sighs heavily and closes his eyes briefly, patience reaching its peak. That all at once he snaps them open, and smacks Oikawa on the head, “ _Who the fuck do you think you are, stupid!_ ”

Oikawa glares at his friend and rubs the back of his head, quietly sniffing and Chihiro finds this to be a perfect opportunity as she quickly jogs over and doesn’t even hesitate as she sets her hand over Oikawa’s lightly. Oikawa looks down at her in surprise, hand going limp as she gently pulls it away.

Once she begins paling at the spot where Iwaizumi hit him her eyebrows furrow and she concentrates on rubbing it softly. She feels everyone staring at her in shock, including the guys of the team and girls who are now sending mental death threats her way. She wonders why she hasn’t turned the color of a tomato yet, or why her hand is only shaking slightly. Maybe she’s more resolute than she thought.

“Oikawa-san, are you alright?” She asks. Her other hand is still holding his and she prays to all gods that hers isn’t sweating. Oikawa blinks and Iwaizumi’s eyes shift from one of her hands to the other, to her face, to his. He looks amused, and somehow this only manages to anger Chihiro.

_Don’t look so unconcerned, Iwaizumi! Don’t you see! I’m holding Oikawa’s hand and ruffling his soft hair! And he isn’t pushing me away!_ She still doesn’t know why she feels more troubled by the fact that Iwaizumi is more of a rival than any other of his fans. They’re just friends, aren’t they?

“It’s fine, Handa-chan. Iwa-chan’s always doing things like this to me.” He laughs and frees his hand from Chihiro’s to wave it nonchalantly, “He’s lucky he has such an amazing friend like me who’s used to it!”

“Who’s amazing?” Iwaizumi mutters, and crosses his arms. Oikawa grins and opens his arms wide.

“I am! No need to be so flustered, I-wa-chan~!” He sings and Iwaizumi sends him a disgusted look which gradually converts into one of horror as he realizes the setter is actually going in for a hug.

Matsukawa sighs, “They act like the most disgusting couple I’ve ever laid my eyes on.” Chihiro freezes at these words, doesn’t turn around to face the other player.

“Let’s just hope they don’t _actually_ start dating any time soon. I don’t think I’d be able to take it.” Hanamaki adds, and the other makes a humming noise, most likely nodding exaggeratedly.

“I don’t think in the years I’ve known Oikawa I’ve ever seen him be as happy with touching as he is with Iwaizumi considering he usually initiates it when he just feels like annoying someone.”

“Also how Oikawa’s the only person Iwaizumi actually tolerates hugs of, no matter how much he tries to hide it.”

“Sickening.”

“Yeah.”

Chihiro halfheartedly listens to the conversation taking place at her side, and quickly leaves the gym while clutching her hand to her chest to will the pain to go away. So what? Even if Iwaizumi has a big gay crush on Oikawa it doesn’t mean that Oikawa means anything with the way he treats his friend. He’s just a touchy person. Surely Iwaizumi knows this, right? He’s just a close friend to the captain. Big deal. Chihiro still has a bigger chance than him.

 

**°ACT III- Tease him°**

“Oikawa-san! You look as cute as a button today!” Chihiro yells playfully at the team captain, wide smile on her face to make sure he understands she’s joking as if they’re close friends. Oikawa turns and once seeing her he grins.

“Really?!” He gasps exaggeratedly, and closes his eyes cutely as many girls begin yelling ‘ _oh course, Oikawa-san_ ’ and ‘ _you really are cute and sexy, senpai!_ ’. Oikawa turns to Iwaizumi at his side.

“Iwa-chan! Am I cute?” He asks. Iwaizumi’s expression doesn’t change as he remain emotionless. His eyes run over Oikawa’s features.

He turns away, “Disgusting more like.”

 

**°ACT IV- Suggest Hanging Out°**

When she finally built up the courage to do this things didn’t exactly go as planned. There was one of two ways this could have gone. Either he declined kindly and said he had other things to do, or cheerfully agreed to go once practice was over. Instead, she’s left the moment to ask him to the last moment as she waits for practice to finish. For all she knows he probably has plans by now. She’ll ask anyway.

“Do you know what direction Oikawa-senpai went?” Is the first thing she hears once she steps inside. She realizes Watari is talking to her, his eyes wide and Chihiro look behind him to look at the team. She doesn’t expect them to be as they are now, all facing her with their expressions all in disbelief and the court completely silent.

“N-No.” She responds, confused. Hanamaki and Matsukawa’s shoulders sag in defeat and she wonders why. She turns to Iwaizumi, hoping to find some sort of answer in him but he’s standing stiffly and his expression is in so much shock that this is the first time she’s ever seen him express a sentiment other than anger and annoyance this strongly.

“Oh,” Watari sighs dejectedly, “I thought you maybe saw him when he ran out.”

“Ran out?” She asks immediately, “Why?” Watari shrugs.

“Beats me. Spikes over there,” He points his thumb over his shoulder at Iwaizumi’s general direction, “Was talking to Oikawa-san and then suddenly our captain exploded and said a couple things. It wouldn’t be out of ordinary, normally, but this time he seemed really… well.” He looks at his team behind him, and stares at Iwaizumi. The team’s ace still hasn’t moved an inch.

“Iwaizumi—” Hanamaki begins, reaching towards his friend but the former is already moving towards the door firmly. He brushes past the hand that try to clutch at him and doesn’t even glance at Chihiro as he leaves the gym.

“Iwaizumi!” Sometimes yells again, but the door slams behind him.

Around Chihiro everyone’s murmuring and she can vaguely distinguish the team’s coach trying to get a hold of the situation. She runs out after Iwaizumi, after Oikawa and ignores someone asking her where she’s going. When she finally finds Oikawa it’s the same time Iwaizumi does, only Chihiro is a few feet away from them and she stares at Iwaizumi’s jogging slows into walking the closer he gets to Oikawa.

“Oikawa?” He asks, voice strangely soft. He steps closer to Oikawa’s body, which is crouched behind a tree with his legs against his chest. He flinches when he hears Iwaizumi’s voice and his body shakes. Chihiro’s eyes broaden in shock as she realizes he’s crying.

“Oikawa, are you alright?” Iwaizumi asks.

“Go away!” Oikawa shoots back, and his hand reaches us to rub at his face, most possibly wiping his tears away, “Leave me alone!” He begins kicking his feet slightly to the side to move his body to face otherwise. The entire situation makes him seem like a child having a tantrum. Iwaizumi breathes out heavily and purses his lips after. He crouches down and grabs his shoulder, forcing him to stay put and Oikawa lets out a surprised sound. His eyes rimmed red and blurry with tears staring into Iwaizumi’s.

“What the _hell_ is wrong with you?” The ace snaps, and his eyes seem to have lost all empathy they had a moment ago. They blaze and Oikawa scowls and forces his head to face away.

“Nothing.” He mumbles. He receives a scoff in return and Iwaizumi rolls his eyes as he tries to emphasize what he wants by shaking Oikawa’s shoulder once and then tightening his hold. He doesn’t seem to believe a single word coming out of Oikawa’s mouth.

“Nothing? Really? Because I don’t recall doing anything that made me worthy of being punched nor yelled at.” He responds. Oikawa sniffs and raises his chin as he looks away.

“You always do something worthy of being yelled at and punched.” Iwaizumi doesn’t seem in the mood to deal with his shit, because he grabs the front of Oikawa’s shirt and forces him to his feet. Oikawa yells in surprise as he stumbles and he slouches once Iwaizumi lets go of him.  He arms hang limply by his sides and his hair frames his face and hides it from view.

“It’s nothing.” He repeats. This time is doesn’t even seem as if he believes his own words. They’re small and unlike anything Chihiro had ever witnessed of him. Her legs are unable to move, even as Iwaizumi brings his fist up and looks like he’s about to punch the living lights out of him. In the end his sighs and it falls back down.

“Tell me, Oikawa. Just this once, tell me what the hell you’re thinking.” His voice is nearly pleading, and the defeat evident in his voice makes Oikawa look up. His eyes are wide and shining.

“Iwa-chan…”

“You never understand!” Iwaizumi suddenly says loudly, “No matter how much I try you never really understand what I’m trying to tell you!”  He continues, and his eyes are sharp on Oikawa’s face, “You told me this no more than five minutes ago. When you talk in riddle how the _fuck_ am I supposed to know what you’re trying to say?”

“Stop making fun of me!”

“I’m not! I just want you to explain what the fuck you’re on about!” He yells, and Oikawa’s hands ball into fists.

Almost on instinct the taller boy yells, “How more obvious can I get?! Literally everyone knows that I’m in love with you!”

And just like that, everything freezes.

Chihiro can hear sobs (she doesn’t realize they’re hers until moments later). She also thinks she can hear her heart cracking (though maybe it was her imagination), and in the end she can’t ask Oikawa out (she can’t even bring her body to move). She’s left hiding behind a wall as she hears Iwaizumi run away (the movement is harsh and quicken with every step) and her sobs are in synch with Oikawa’s.

(She doesn’t know whose cries sound more heartbroken.)

 

-

 

“Handa-chan! Good morning!” Oikawa greets the following day, grin wide and waving enthusiastically. His voice is as cheery as usual, and he laughs politely as a girl shakes his arm continuously (“Oikawa-senpai~! You promised you’d go to a karaoke bar with me! Let’s go today!”). Chihiro walks right past him.

Hanamaki and Matsukawa are standing inside a classroom, murmuring on why it seems Iwaizumi and Oikawa can’t even look at each other. She walks right past them as well and ignores how she can still hear Iwaizumi’s harsh words echoing in her head.

Words thrown at the person she thought was the ace’s best friend.

_“Don’t be disgusting, Oikawa. I’m not friends with **gays.** ”_


End file.
